Stories, with questions

“Hearts and Hands”

O. Henry · two men handcuffed together on a train, and a woman who knows one of them · test length

The People’s Share · GED Reasoning Through Language Arts · reading fiction

Part 1

Before you read

On a train heading east from Denver, a young woman from Washington society sees an old friend walk down the aisle, handcuffed to another man. One of them is a marshal. The other is going to prison.

Written by
O. Henry (1862–1910), the New York writer of “The Cop and the Anthem,” famous for his surprise endings.
Printed in
Waifs and Strays (1917), a collection published after his death. The story is old enough to be free, so all of it is printed here.
Length
About 900 words, in 24 paragraphs. That is the length of a reading passage on the test, which is 450 to 900 words.
Time
About 5 minutes to read, and 20 for the questions.
Read it twice

There is a surprise in the last line. Read the story once, straight through, and enjoy it. Then read it again from the top. The second time, you will see the clues were there all along. The questions are about both readings.

Words you will meet

influxparagraph 1
a crowd coming in
coachesparagraph 1
railroad passenger cars
countenanceparagraph 1
face; the look on a face
handcuffedparagraph 1
locked together at the wrists with metal rings
a reversed seatparagraph 2
a train seat turned to face backward, toward the seat behind it
“bracelet”paragraph 6
a joking word for a handcuff
marshalparagraph 7
a United States marshal, a federal officer who, among other things, takes prisoners to prison
the penparagraph 7
short for “penitentiary,” a prison
Leavenworthparagraph 7
a federal prison in Kansas
counterfeitingparagraph 7
making fake money
ambassadorparagraph 9
a person sent by one country to represent it in another
callparagraph 10
here, to visit a young woman as a man courting her
irrelevantlyparagraph 15
saying something that seems to have nothing to do with the conversation
the smokerparagraph 16
the railroad car where smoking was allowed
petitionparagraph 18
a formal request
catch onparagraph 24
understand

The story

Hearts and Hands

O. Henry

1At Denver there was an influx of passengers into the coaches on the eastbound B. & M. express. In one coach there sat a very pretty young woman dressed in elegant taste and surrounded by all the luxurious comforts of an experienced traveler. Among the newcomers were two young men, one of handsome presence with a bold, frank countenance and manner; the other a ruffled, glum-faced person, heavily built and roughly dressed. The two were handcuffed together.

2As they passed down the aisle of the coach the only vacant seat offered was a reversed one facing the attractive young woman. Here the linked couple seated themselves. The young woman’s glance fell upon them with a distant, swift disinterest; then with a lovely smile brightening her countenance and a tender pink tingeing her rounded cheeks, she held out a little gray-gloved hand. When she spoke her voice, full, sweet, and deliberate, proclaimed that its owner was accustomed to speak and be heard.

3“Well, Mr. Easton, if you will make me speak first, I suppose I must. Don’t you ever recognize old friends when you meet them in the West?”

4The younger man roused himself sharply at the sound of her voice, seemed to struggle with a slight embarrassment which he threw off instantly, and then clasped her fingers with his left hand.

5“It’s Miss Fairchild,” he said, with a smile. “I’ll ask you to excuse the other hand; it’s otherwise engaged just at present.”

6He slightly raised his right hand, bound at the wrist by the shining “bracelet” to the left one of his companion. The glad look in the girl’s eyes slowly changed to a bewildered horror. The glow faded from her cheeks. Her lips parted in a vague, relaxing distress. Easton, with a little laugh, as if amused, was about to speak again when the other forestalled him. The glum-faced man had been watching the girl’s countenance with veiled glances from his keen, shrewd eyes.

7“You’ll excuse me for speaking, miss, but, I see you’re acquainted with the marshal here. If you’ll ask him to speak a word for me when we get to the pen he’ll do it, and it’ll make things easier for me there. He’s taking me to Leavenworth prison. It’s seven years for counterfeiting.”

8“Oh!” said the girl, with a deep breath and returning color. “So that is what you are doing out here? A marshal!”

9“My dear Miss Fairchild,” said Easton, calmly, “I had to do something. Money has a way of taking wings unto itself, and you know it takes money to keep step with our crowd in Washington. I saw this opening in the West, and—well, a marshalship isn’t quite as high a position as that of ambassador, but—”

10“The ambassador,” said the girl, warmly, “doesn’t call any more. He needn’t ever have done so. You ought to know that. And so now you are one of these dashing Western heroes, and you ride and shoot and go into all kinds of dangers. That’s different from the Washington life. You have been missed from the old crowd.”

11The girl’s eyes, fascinated, went back, widening a little, to rest upon the glittering handcuffs.

12“Don’t you worry about them, miss,” said the other man. “All marshals handcuff themselves to their prisoners to keep them from getting away. Mr. Easton knows his business.”

13“Will we see you again soon in Washington?” asked the girl.

14“Not soon, I think,” said Easton. “My butterfly days are over, I fear.”

15“I love the West,” said the girl irrelevantly. Her eyes were shining softly. She looked away out the car window. She began to speak truly and simply without the gloss of style and manner: “Mamma and I spent the summer in Denver. She went home a week ago because father was slightly ill. I could live and be happy in the West. I think the air here agrees with me. Money isn’t everything. But people always misunderstand things and remain stupid—”

16“Say, Mr. Marshal,” growled the glum-faced man. “This isn’t quite fair. I’m needing a drink, and haven’t had a smoke all day. Haven’t you talked long enough? Take me in the smoker now, won’t you? I’m half dead for a pipe.”

17The bound travelers rose to their feet, Easton with the same slow smile on his face.

18“I can’t deny a petition for tobacco,” he said, lightly. “It’s the one friend of the unfortunate. Good-bye, Miss Fairchild. Duty calls, you know.” He held out his hand for a farewell.

19“It’s too bad you are not going East,” she said, reclothing herself with manner and style. “But you must go on to Leavenworth, I suppose?”

20“Yes,” said Easton, “I must go on to Leavenworth.”

21The two men sidled down the aisle into the smoker.

22The two passengers in a seat near by had heard most of the conversation. Said one of them: “That marshal’s a good sort of chap. Some of these Western fellows are all right.”

23“Pretty young to hold an office like that, isn’t he?” asked the other.

24“Young!” exclaimed the first speaker, “why—Oh! didn’t you catch on? Say—did you ever know an officer to handcuff a prisoner to his right hand?”

Text from Waifs and Strays (1917), as kept by Project Gutenberg, with one spelling corrected (“marshall” to “marshal” in paragraph 7). Paragraph numbers are ours.

Part 2

Questions like the test’s

Three words the questions use

Inference. Something the story does not say in plain words, but that you can work out from what it does say. This whole story is built so that you make one inference early, and then find out it was wrong.

Irony. When what is said, or what happens, turns out to be the opposite of what was expected, or when words mean something different from what the listener thinks they mean.

Clue. A small detail that points to the truth before the truth is told.

Twelve questions, in the kinds the test uses: choose one answer, choose two, and choose from a drop-down. Press Check after each one. If you miss, the page tells you why the answer you chose is tempting, and you can try again.

1. Paragraph 1 describes the two men: one “of handsome presence with a bold, frank countenance,” the other “a ruffled, glum-faced person, heavily built and roughly dressed.” (Countenance means face.) What does this description lead most readers to expect?

2. In paragraph 5, Easton says, “I’ll ask you to excuse the other hand; it’s otherwise engaged just at present.” What is he doing?

3. Paragraph 7: the glum-faced man speaks up before Easton can answer. Once you know the ending, what is the most likely reason he says what he says?

4. Which two details are early clues that Easton is really the prisoner? choose two

5. In paragraph 9, Easton explains: “Money has a way of taking wings unto itself, and you know it takes money to keep step with our crowd in Washington.” Once you know the truth, what do these words really explain?

6. Paragraph 10: “The ambassador,” said the girl, warmly, “doesn’t call any more. He needn’t ever have done so. You ought to know that.” What is Miss Fairchild telling Easton?

7. In paragraph 14, Easton says, “My butterfly days are over, I fear.” What do these words mean, and why are they ironic?

8. In paragraph 15, Miss Fairchild says she could “live and be happy in the West,” and that “money isn’t everything.” She is speaking “truly and simply.” What is she telling Easton?

9. Paragraph 16: just as Miss Fairchild begins to say how she feels, the glum-faced man growls that he needs a smoke, and asks to go to the smoking car. Knowing the ending, why does he most likely break in at this moment?

10. Choose the words that best complete the sentence. drop-down

When Easton says, “Yes, I must go on to Leavenworth” (paragraph 20), his words are true in a way Miss Fairchild does not understand. He must go there .

11. The last line asks: “did you ever know an officer to handcuff a prisoner to his right hand?” Why is the right hand the giveaway?

12. The title is “Hearts and Hands.” Which explanation fits the story best?

Part 3

For talking it over

These have no single right answer. They are for class, or for a friend, or for thinking about on your own. Each one has a hint, folded away, for anyone who wants a place to start.

  1. The marshal lies to protect a counterfeiter’s pride in front of a woman he has never met. Was that right? Would you have done it?
    A place to start

    What did the lie cost him? What would the truth have cost Easton, and Miss Fairchild?

  2. Did Miss Fairchild ever figure it out? What happens if she reads about the case in a newspaper a week later?
  3. The handsome, well-spoken man is the criminal, and the rough, gloomy one is the officer. Where do people still judge each other by faces, clothes and voices? Has it happened to you?
    A place to start

    “The Cop and the Anthem” is about the same mistake, made by waiters and policemen.

  4. Easton says, “I had to do something. Money has a way of taking wings.” Do you feel for him? Is it an explanation, or an excuse?
  5. The two passengers in paragraph 22 have been listening the whole time. Why do you think O. Henry gives the last word to strangers?
    A place to start

    Think about where you, the reader, were sitting during the story.

Part 4

Write about it

Choose one of these and write in the box below. Put the number of the one you chose at the top. The box saves your writing as you go, under your code, and you can send it to Myles when it is ready.

  1. 1. The clues

    Explain how O. Henry hides the truth in this story and then reveals it. Use at least three clues from the story, with their paragraph numbers.

    Start by saying in one sentence what the truth is. Then, for each clue, say what a first-time reader thinks it means and what it really means.

  2. 2. The marshal’s side

    Tell the story again from the marshal’s point of view, from the moment he sits down to the moment he reaches the smoking car.

    Use only what he could see and hear. Why does he decide to speak? What does he think of Easton? Of Miss Fairchild?

  3. 3. Saving face

    Write about a time someone protected your pride in front of other people, or a time you protected someone else’s.

    Tell it as a story, with a place and a moment in it. Then say whether you think it was the right thing to do.

☞ Inference is taught step by step in Quiz 4. The next story on the shelf is “The Cop and the Anthem,” O. Henry again, in Madison Square.

Answers to Part 2

1 B · 2 C · 3 D · 4 B and C · 5 A · 6 D · 7 A · 8 C · 9 A · 10 as a prisoner · 11 D · 12 C